Catty wins again to stay atop Colonial North wrestling standings

The Roughies beat Palmerton, which has been weakened by illnesses throughout lineup.

January 12, 2013|By Nick Fierro, Of The Morning Call

Casey Simmons felt he let his Catasauqua wrestling teammates down a year ago, when he couldn't make weight for a crucial Colonial League showdown with Palmerton.

He wasn't going to let it happen a second year in a row.

Saturday, with his Rough Riders losing by 12 with six bouts remaining, Simmons pinned one of Palmerton's top performers, Joseph Bubble, at 145 pounds. A flying cement job was both the winning move of the bout and the most symbolic of the day as Catty never lost again on its way to a 46-25 victory.

With a potential North Division title and district duals berth hanging in the balance, "it was extra special, it really was," Simmons said. "I think it's between us, them and Pen Argyl, and now we have Pen Argyl next. They're going to be a tough match too. They always bring a full lineup; they're going to be tough."

Not helping Palmerton's cause was a sickness that has spread through its wrestling room. The Blue Bombers (10-6, 2-3) forfeited two matches because of it and weren't at full strength in many other weights.

"I don't think we looked like ourselves out there," coach David Lavin said, "but I told the guys there were no excuses. It's do-or-die out there for the leagues, so we had to get a win, had to kind of wrestle a perfect match.

"A couple of things didn't go our way and we rebounded in certain places. Then trying to do a little bit too much to rebound, we lost in some places too."

Lavin's counterpart, coach Michael Conner, made a move after winning the coin flip that paid off right at the start of the match, bumping Jared Nosal up from 195 to meet Skyler Rosenberry at 220.

After taking defense to start the third period of a 2-2 bout, Nosal escaped, then put it away with a takedown on a shrug for a 5-2 decision.

Conversely, Palmerton's Jacob Schlinkman was losing 2-1 after giving up a reversal in the third period of his bout with Andrew Strauss at 185. But a second technical violation on Strauss while riding helped change the complexion of the bout, which was won 5-2 by Schlinklman on a late escape and a takedown to clinch it.

Catty (13-8, 5-0) went on to get major bonus points with its two forfeit victories on top of pins by Simmons, Shane Grotoholski at 152, Tyler Trobetsky at 182 and Rhaine Sziy at 195 and a major decision by Jacob Rusnock over Daniel Russo at 126. Russo is normally a 113-pounder.

Zack Bradley all but sealed it with a 2-0 decision over Zach Graver at 170, with the flu- and asthma-weakened Graver unable to mount any kind of offense after an optional start to the third period in which he conceded an escape.

Trobetsky then put it away with his pin of Jake Christman.

Conner said he and his staff were sweating this one out coming in and knew Palmerton would have put up a better fight if healthy.

"That was everything we expected," he said. "It could have gone either way. We got more pins that we thought we'd get. It's terrible [having a team sickness]. It takes you more than two or three days to get rid of that stuff, to get back and get working out."

The moves Conner made ended up keeping sophomore Satch Stauffer, their regular 220-pounder, out of action again.

"It's a shame because it started at 220, so we had to decide right away," Conner said. "If he was the last match, we could have waited and put him out there at the end.